Like many people who work with computers a lot, I suffer from wrist pain. I recently switched to using a Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, and it reduced those issues very quickly. The main benefit of the keyboard, aside from the ergonomic, split, design, is that it is raised, which mean that my wrists doesn't have to bend in order to use the keyboard.

I have found that this to be a great product, with the single complaint that the wrist rest hand doesn't stretch enough to the left, so I have no easy way to access the left most keys column of the keyboard. I literally need an extra inch or two and it would be perfect.

Now I am looking for a mouse that I can use that will not reduce the effort even more. I would like to be able to go totally mouse free, and while I can do it, the problem is that this is simply not possible in many applications.

In Windows Live Writer, for instance, I don't have any way to access the right option bar without the mouse (at least non that I could find), and that is the case in many applications / sites. Selecting categories or setting publish date requires the use of the mouse as well.

I have tried using a trackball for a while, and that didn't reduce any wrist pain, if anything, it simply moved them from one place to another.

Any recommendation on a good mouse to use?

I have heard about data-hands, and I am interesting in taking them for a spin, but the cost is really prohibitive, and I am not going to even try that without seeing clear benefits out of this.

I started to have problems with my wrists a year ago and bought a couple of carpal tunnel braces for my wrists that I wear while working on the computer and the problem has gone away. The braces were at first awkward, but now I forget they are even there. Your mileage may vary but it appears to have worked for me.

Have you thought of using a tablet? I switched to a Wacom Intuos3 6"x8" tablet last year and I love it. It is USD$330 off the manufacturer's website, but it helped significantly with wrist/arm pain. I think it may actually be faster than using a mouse after you're used to its absolute positioning. You could probably get by with a 4x5 ($230); I got the bigger one for work because of my 2x20" and 1x30". If you want a cheaper, not as nice version, you could go for Wacom's Graphire 4x5, which is $100.

The tablet will not work if you use Synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/) the last time I checked, in case you use that.

I'd look into Evoluent's Vertical Mouse. Might be worth a test-drive but since you likely don't spend a lot of time with your hand on a mouse, it might be more cumbersome to get your hand into that position every time you're forced to use it.

This site has a good collection of mice and keyboards: http://www.ergocanada.com/

I switched to the Evoluent vertical mouse (http://www.ergocanada.com/products/mice/evoluent.html) and Kinesis Maxim keyboard (http://www.ergocanada.com/products/keyboards/kinesis_maxim.html) a couple of years ago, and I didn't have any wrist pain since.

The things that have always disappointed me in non-vanilla keyboards are the rearrangement of the center cluster (pgup/dwn, del, ins, etc), the rearrangement of the Fn keys (not in groups of 4) and the "F" switch. This keyboard at least sticks with the traditional center cluster layout. I might give it a try.

I think the better question to ask is how to use your mouse rather than which ones to use. With the level of use we put into a mouse every single one is going to cause problems.

As a consequence I've training my left hand to use a leftie mouse so I can switch back and forth. I prefer to keep the mouse in my left hand at work and when I get home I use my right. Even wear and tear, I've not had a single problem knockknock.

For my left hand I use a Logitech MX610 and for my right hand I use a MX Revolution also from Logitech.

I use the ms natural keyboard 4000 as well, and love it. The mouse I use is the G5 laser mouse from logitech (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/359&cl=us,en). It's worked very well for me. I'm with Søren on the "ambimousdrous". I taught myself to use a mouse with either hand 10 years ago, and haven't had any issues in that time. I switch back and forth frequently, and find some tasks are best optimised for left handed mouse use and some for right handed mouse use. That's one reason I chose the G5 -- you can use it as either a left handed or right handed mouse.